


Your Favorite Weapon

by MalevolentReverie



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A/B/O, Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Activism, Age Difference, Alpha Kylo Ren, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bigotry & Prejudice, Discrimination, Drug Use, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Kylo is a bad dude, MalRev Lite, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Older Man/Younger Woman, POV First Person, POV Rey (Star Wars), Slow Burn, beta rey, mentions of rape/noncon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:00:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25208098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalevolentReverie/pseuds/MalevolentReverie
Summary: Rey joins an Alpha rights club during her sophomore year of college. She’s looking for somewhere to belong and thinks she’s found it, but things start to shift when she meets an abrasive Alpha named Kylo Ren, who doesn’t appreciate her selfish brand of activism.DISCONTINUED
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 202
Kudos: 388





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alsterwasser](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alsterwasser/gifts).



> this is for ELLIEEEEE it was her idea!
> 
> song for the fic is Hurricane by I prevail

Student protestors block the dorms during the first week of my sophomore year of college. I think it’s fucking obnoxious.

I’m roasting in the early September afternoon when a short girl with black hair gets up on a milk crate with a megaphone to let all the pissed-off people know why she’s blocking off the dorms they pay for. She’s decked out in bracelets and rings and wearing a shirt that just says: RIGHTS FOR ALPHAS. Oh boy.

“What if _you_ had to wear a bracelet to be allowed outside?” The megaphone shrieks and the girl winces. I think this is her first time using one. She’s with a guy who urges her on. He’s wearing the same goofy shirt. “Registration bracelets are Orwellian—” 

Someone throws a pencil and it hits her megaphone, making her stumble and fall off her milk crate. Laughter passes through the crowd. People shove her friend aside, who’s hurrying to help her off the ground. Peaceful protest wins again.

But I’m interested for some strange, stupid reason. I’ve been looking for a club to join; something to keep me occupied between classes and during breaks. It’s been lonely and boring here and I’m just taking basic classes for transfer. Maybe I should try to make some friends and how to use a megaphone.

I walk up, thumbs hooked under the straps of my backpack, and the two of them look at me. The girl dusts herself off and breaks into a wide smile.

“Hello!” she chirps. She offers me a hand bedazzled with rings. “I’m Rose.”

I shake her hand and smile back. “I’m Rey. Are you okay? Kind of hit the ground hard.”

“I’m fine! No worries. Finn _almost_ caught me.” She shoots her friend a dirty look and he shrugs helplessly. “Were you interested in joining us?”

“What exactly do you guys do?”

“Activism,” Finn pipes up. “Alpha rights. We stage peaceful protests and stuff like that.”

“Next week we’re protesting outside the governor’s mansion!” Rose adds, clapping lightly and beaming back at Finn. “All peaceful, though. We don’t want to hurt anyone and bring a bad name to Alphas.”

Alpha rights, huh? I’ve never met an Alpha—they’re really rare nowadays, and Omegas are usually relegated to special schools and pampered lifestyles. I think. Maybe they’re extinct. Last I read on CNN, they were almost extinct.

But Alphas don’t get the same treatment. They’re not allowed at most colleges and universities and have to live in special housing away from Betas. I guess it’s terrible but I’ve never given it much thought. Maybe I’ll start now. Alpha rights can be my thing. It’ll help my resume.

I shrug. “Sure, sign me up.”

—•—

“I’ve never actually _met_ an Alpha, y’know. But that’s just because they’re so hard to find now.”

We’re driving to our first protest in Rose’s old Golf, Finn in the backseat playing Candy Crush and groaning whenever he fucks up. I’m decked out in my red T-shirt, clutching my new water bottle, completely unprepared for what we’re about to do. I skipped calculus for this.

It’s a sunny day and not too humid so I’m hoping things will go fine. Research isn’t my forte so I’m jumping in headfirst with my two new friends and homemade sign Rose helped me with last night at her place. She lives off-campus with Finn. He’s a junior and she’s a sophomore but they’re both transfers.

I shrug. “Me neither. Maybe we will someday.”

“Yeah, right? I bet one will come to our protests once we start picking up steam.” Rose glances in the rear view. “Babe, did you remember the cooler?”

He didn’t.

We stop at a gas station to grab snacks and extra water, and I decide to wait in the car. The building is crumbling and the open sign flickers, which isn’t a aesthetic entirely foreign to me. It’s a poor area, I think. I grew up in foster care so I’m used to it.

My gaze wanders along the building to the laundromat next door. I’m drumming my nails on my bottle when I spot a tall guy smoking near the laundromat door next to a red headed guy who seems to be talking his ear off. He keeps nodding and passes a hand through long black hair, and something glints on his wrist.

Fear jolts through my chest, like when you miss a step on a staircase or a bee buzzes close by your ear. It’s knee-jerk and wrong but I’ve never seen an Alpha and all those scary stories pop into my head: ruts gone wrong, kidnapping, sex trafficking, forcing Betas to take hormones to become hollow copies of Omegas.

I’m staring when he seems to sense me. Dark eyes flicker up to mine and I instinctively push down the lock on my door. My hand slides away, heart pounding, and I avert my eyes to my water bottle. Oh god. He’s only like fifteen feet away from me.

It’s quiet for a minute. I’m considering running inside to find Finn and Rose when there’s a sharp knock on my window.

Ice trails down my spine. I peek up to find the Alpha looking at me, cigarette extinguished and behind his ear, and he raises his eyebrows. He’s pale. Long face, big nose. Big guy. Very big. They tend to be.

He motions for me to roll my window down. He has some black tattoos on his knuckles and I’m afraid he’s going to break the glass if I don’t do what he says. I roll it down about halfway, scared shitless. What does he want? Is he going to kidnap me?

The Alpha rests his hand on the frame of the car, leaning down. He’s wearing a black T-shirt and a thin gold chain. More tattoos wind up his arms and neck.

“Something wrong?” he asks. Deep voice.

“No—no.” I shake my head. “I’m fine. Just waiting for my friends.”

He cocks his head. Fingers hook over the open window and I can barely make out the Alpha symbol on his registration bracelet against the glass.

“I couldn’t help but notice you locked your door when I looked at you.” His eyebrows raise even higher, innocent and imploring. “Any reason why?”

“No sir. Just forgot—um—before they—”

“Shouldn’t do that,” he interrupts. “It’s rude.”

“Right, I’m sorry. Sorry.”

Getting on an Alpha’s bad side is not how I want to start my first day protesting. He just stares at me, then his eyes wander down my shirt to my water bottle and back up again. I can feel the judgment seeping into my fucking bone marrow. I’m wearing a shirt screaming ALPHA RIGHTS and I’m terrified of the only one I’ve ever met.

He drums his fingers on the inside of the window. I’m so embarrassed I can’t breathe.

“Nice shirt,” he says.

Another beat passes before he leaves. I unlock my door, watching him shaking his head and pointing at me, and his friend rolling his eyes. I’m such an idiot.

Finn and Rose come back with our snacks. I decide to keep my encounter with the Alpha to myself.

—•—

Our first few protests go well: they’re small, just the three of us, but people will stop and ask questions and take pamphlets Finn made. We go to a few spots around the city of Schenectady and Albany and I start to feel good about what I’m doing. It’s exciting being a part of something.

I’m happier at my part-time job at Family Dollar, too. It’s only on weekends for some extra cash, since my tuition and room and board were covered by the Pell Grant and scholarships. It feels like I have a purpose; like I’m part of something bigger.

On a Saturday in November I’m stocking the chip aisle at work and texting Rose about setting something up for next weekend. It’s colder now, so we can’t be out as long even with the Patagonia jackets Rose’s mom had made for us. She’s _loaded._ Thank god. I’m always on the verge of being completely broke so I couldn’t afford any of that fancy stuff she’s always bringing.

I glance up from my phone, smiling at first, until I glimpse someone watching me from the end of the aisle.

It’s him: black tracksuit, gold chain, black hair pulled into a half-ponytail. He looks like an even bigger douchebag than he did that day back in September and I just sort of stare in shock. How did he find me? Did he do it deliberately?

The Alpha wanders over and I try to busy myself stocking the shelves. I’m sitting on the floor, vulnerable but trying not to think of it that way. Rose has showed me all kinds of studies about how Alphas are misunderstood and not all that dangerous. They’re not stupid. They just need medication to control their hormones.

He meanders to the shelves behind me and I think he leans against them. He doesn’t say anything. I keep working and pretending he isn’t there, because I shouldn’t be afraid of him. It’s not fair. Discriminatory. I’m not a discriminator.

“No doors to lock in here, huh?”

I’m not going to reply. I pick up a bag of Funyuns and set them in the back behind the older bags.

The Alpha lapses into silence again. He’s not going to kidnap me in broad daylight—I’m not even a good candidate for that Omega serum. And people die from it. I don’t want to die becoming an Omega. He seems like he has access to that stuff. Is that not a fair assumption?

“What’s your name?” he asks mildly.

“Rey.” I pull an expired bag of Doritos. My heart is racing. “You?”

“What’s your last name?”

I pause. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just putting a name to the face, Rey.”

Well… I’m not telling him my last name. I turn to look over my shoulder and he has his thick arms folded across his chest, cigarette behind his ear. He raises his eyebrows in that smug, rude way, like he’s just waiting for me to give him what he wants.

I’m not going to be pushed around. There’s a line between respect and being a doormat.

“That’s none of your business,” I reply tersely.

“Why? You think I’m going to look you up on Facebook? Find out where you live?”

“ _No_ , it’s just none of your _business_.”

“I’ve seen you around the area with your dopey little bedazzled sign—Tico and Reynolds, I already know all about. Had a harder time tracking you down.”

Fear twists into irritation. How does he know their names? What’s his fucking problem? We’re trying to _help him_.

The weird threat hangs in the air. At least, I think it’s a threat. He let me know that he knows Finn and Rose’s full names and said he ‘tracked me down’. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to take that.

The Alpha nods, puckering his lips, clicking his tongue. He shrugs off the shelves.

“Alright,” he says. “Glad we had this talk, Rey.”

Then he leaves without another word. He didn’t even tell me his name, and I can’t help but think that he’s fucking ungrateful.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the ATL vibes this has 
> 
> also Kylo is going to aggressive and rude and an asshole but again, no noncon in this

Our first snowfall comes that week, heavy enough to ruin Rose’s plans for another small protest at the capitol building. It’s fine with me: midterms are over and I’m already studying for finals, determined to bring my grades up from last semester.

I let Rose know about the weird Alpha showing up at my job and she asks me all kinds of questions about him. She thinks I provoked him and I guess she might be right. I did lock the door as soon as I saw him.

She’s busy getting ready for some big Alpha advocate to visit the city, too. Poe Dameron. He’s a real Alpha and an attorney and running for a State Senate seat next year, and from what I can tell he’s nothing like the Alpha I saw hanging out at the corner store. Very presentable; very put-together. Short, curly black hair. Megawatt smile.

But I’ve only Googled Poe once. I’m much more interested in finding the Alpha that followed me to my job, which is pretty much impossible.

My classes are over at two on Wednesday so I brave the miserable cold to visit the book store a few blocks from school. My foster dad keeps texting asking me to send him him cash through Western Union and I’m trying not to feel guilty about not doing it. He let me go hungry plenty of times when I was a kid.

So I shouldn’t feel bad about keeping my money to myself—but I do.

It’s warm inside the book store and I wave to the cashier on my way past. Big place with an upstairs that has all kinds of expensive old books and reference material, but I feel like wandering through the romance novels for something new. Not really here for high literature or anything.

Unkar home schooled me for a long time and I didn’t learn to read until I was sixteen, so I try to read as much as I can. Sometimes I get stuck—I’m not the best at writing papers—and I figure romance novels are a fun way to improve.

I pause to check a pirate romance with a cool cover. Neat. Haven’t read one like it and it’s only ten bucks. I should check out Goodreads to see reviews.

“Bleak.”

I frown, eyes flickering up to the shelf at the unfamiliar voice. Then I turn and drop into a scowl.

It’s him. He’s scanning the shelves with his eyebrows raised, hands in the pockets of his blue tracksuit. He doesn’t look at me or acknowledge my glare, but he reaches out to pick a book off the shelf and reads the back. He shakes his head and puts it back.

“Can I help you?” I ask coldly.

“I don’t think I’m the one that needs help.”

“Wow, good one.” I pick out another book without looking at it. Aliens. Neat.

He wanders closer. I try not to be fucking terrified. It’s not fair to assume anything about him, right? Even though Alpha-on-Beta crime is at an all-time high.

“Kylo,” he says. I think he motions to himself but can’t quite see. “Since I didn’t get the chance for introductions last time we met.”

“Great. Nice to meet you.”

Kylo stops not a foot beside me and I have to fight the urge to take a step away. I don’t want to look rude and invite more harassment. His cologne is strong and woodsy and it makes my spine prickle. It’s fine. It’s just cologne. That’s all.

He leans over my shoulder to read my book. “Heard Tico is trying to get Poe Dameron to stage something here. Rally or whatever.”

My heart hammers. I can feel his body heat—it’s like standing next to a space heater. Jesus.

“So?” I croak. “He’s an advocate for _your_ rights.”

“You think so?”

I tentatively sidle to the right to get escape his oppressive orbit. He’s looming over me and I don’t think it’s rude to dislike it. I don’t have to tolerate him stalking me and invading my personal bubble.

Kylo doesn’t try to stop me. His expression stays blank but his dark eyes search my face. Calculating.

“We’re just trying to help,” I say.

“Yeah. Everyone is just trying to help even though nobody asked for any help.” He shrugs, tilting his head to the side. “I personally do a pretty good business around here with my friend Hux. You saw him—redheaded guy. Omega. Helps me out with…” He rubs his mouth and gesticulates. “Sales.”

“Do you speak for every single Alpha in the world?”

“I think I’ve got a better thumb on the pulse of what Alphas want than some Beta and her friends.”

I press my lips in a tight line. Kylo’s smile widens some, so I pivot and march off for the cash register. Douchebag. I’m done with this conversation, and it’s not because I’m scared or anything. He’s just rude.

Kylo follows at a slight distance. The cashier keeps looking at him and has a tense smile. I pay for my books and then I’m out the door without a second glance. I don’t even know what the second one is. I’ll have to find out when I get home, I guess.

I’m followed out into the cold afternoon. Kylo jogs lightly to catch up to me and I stop dead, glaring up at him and pointing at his face.

“Leave me alone,” I snap.

“Can’t. You’re going to hurt my bottom line, Rey.”

“What bottom line? What do you even do? Work at an—an ugly clothes store?”

His eyebrows jump and he bursts out laughing. Someone walks by behind him and gives us a weird glance but doesn’t stop. It’s like ten degrees Fahrenheit and he’s wearing a fucking track suit. They’re probably wondering _why_.

I storm off and he jogs to catch up. Anger bubbles up quicker than before and I jab him in the chest with my index finger this time, which only draws the smuggest, most obnoxious grin I’ve ever seen.

“Fuck off!” I hiss.

“If Poe Dameron comes here he’s going to bring a bunch of cops and I can only pay off so many cops. They always start sniffing around looking for excuses to throw Alphas in jail.”

“Don’t do illegal things if you don’t want to go to jail.”

Kylo clicks his tongue, twisting his mouth. “Have to make a living somehow. Don’t have many other options—which you’d know if you did any research.”

“Plenty of Alphas don’t break the law.”

“Yeah… no.” He laughs. “Can’t think of a single Alpha that hasn’t.”

I’m not sure what to say—I’m not an Alpha so I wouldn’t know but if there are ones like Poe who become lawyers, it has to be possible. I’m assuming Kylo’s ‘sales’ involve drugs or something else awful. Maybe he sells people. I’ve heard of kidnapped Betas being forced to transition to Omegas and sold on the black market.

I’m not a great candidate for that. I don’t think. I hope not. Please god.

Kylo’s tongue rolls inside his cheek and he studies me for a long minute. I cross my arms over my chest and puff up and it just makes him smirk in that obnoxious way. It’s bright out and there are people walking down the street. He’s not going to do anything stupid, even if he _is_ a human trafficker.

“Talk to Tico and Reynolds.” Kylo plucks a cigarette from behind his ear and sticks it between his lips. I make a face when he lights it. “Tell them we insist they stop.”

“Who is ‘we’? You and your friends?”

He rolls his eyes and flicks his silver Zippo closed. Gray smoke wafts into the air and he glances down the street as he exhales.

“You’re in my territory,” he says. “Any Alphas from here down to the City and out to Buffalo listen to me. They definitely won’t trust some wannabe activist with a bedazzled sign.”

“Oh yeah? _All_ of them do?”

“Yes. All of them do.”

Kylo’s voice drops in a way that makes my skin crawl. I’m not sure if he’s full of shit—I know very little about Alphas except for the stuff in Rose’s brochures.

He stares at me, smile gone, and I clench my jaw, averting my eyes to the sidewalk. Fine. I’ll talk to them, only because I don’t want them to get hurt.

The acrid smell of cigarette smoke swirls around me for a full minute while I stand there unsure of what to do. I’m trembling from the confrontation, afraid of getting hurt and afraid of _him_ and afraid for my friends. It’s freezing cold and I just want to go back to my dorm room and read my books.

Shouldn’t have gotten twisted up in this. There are other ways to pad my future resume that don’t involve inserting myself in dangerous situations.

Kylo exhales, flicking his ashes. “Go home, read your books. Deliver the message. I’ll stop by Friday night to check up on you.”

I don’t look up. I’m not sure why, but thinking of meeting his gaze makes me unspeakably anxious. Still, I _really like_ don’t like some random asshole telling me what to do like it’s the most natural thing in the world. I’m not an Omega. I wasn’t born to obey anyone, least of all him.

“Don’t tell me…” I trail off, voice wavering. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

Kylo’s cigarette crackles. He takes his time on the next drag. Flicks his ashes. Blood pounds in my ears. Oh god. I shouldn’t have said that.

He comes closer with a casual couple steps, crowding me against the brick wall we’re standing next to. I stumble back a step and put my hands out defensively to catch his broad chest and he leans close to my ear, lowering his voice. He’s hot. His heart beats slow.

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just say that.” I flinch when he puts out the cigarette against the wall. “Feeling generous today. Forgiving.” His hand rests on the wall next to my head and I cower. “And y’know—I’ve been watching you scurrying around campus these last few days—has anyone ever told you that you’d make a very nice Omega?”

I swallow hard, managing to shake my head an inch. I feel his breath in my hair.

“Oh.” Kylo clicks his tongue. “Well how about you scurry on home to dorm three hundred and one, read your sad little books, and mull it over? I’ll let you try an injection on the house if you take my knot first.”

A flush of fear and embarrassment washes over me and burns in my cheeks. Kylo’s arm slides away from the wall and he makes a dismissive gesture for me to shoo. And I shoo, avoiding his eyes and rushing around the corner.

I don’t look back. I just run.


	3. Chapter 3

I’m scared shitless of Kylo, so I immediately pass on his message to Rose and Finn. I’m not a martyr. I won’t die for the cause or anything, or get limbs cut off or… I don’t know. I’m not willing to make sacrifices for this shit. Standing up to some Alpha trying to impose his will on me doesn’t matter in the grand scheme, and I’m thinking much more rationally about the risks once I’m home.

To my great surprise, Rose and Finn don’t care. Rose just texts me back and shrugs it off, and Finn doesn’t respond at all.

> **Rose  
>  ****Thursday** 6:33 PM
> 
> kylo ? he’s new—just trying to scare u
> 
> Mission fucking accomplished!!!  
>  **Read** 8:01 PM
> 
> 😂😂 ignore him we’ve got bigger fish 2 fry  
>  Poe Dameron is going to come speak whether Kylo likes it or not

I’m scared of my mind but eventually she convinces me that this is an Alpha thing we have no control over, and Kylo will work it out with Poe. He’s coming to speak in two weeks right before Halloween, which I guess does leave plenty of time for Kylo to speak to him. It’s not my problem.

I keep repeating it to myself all day Friday while I’m in classes, but I’m not very convincing. Maybe that’s why I’m an ineffectual activist.

My dorm room has to be the safest place to be, since no one can get in the building without a student ID, so I camp out there after classes are over Friday. Rose invites me out for dinner but I give her a firm no, figuring my locked door is safer than anything else. Even though he knows my dorm room number. And has been watching me around campus.

I sit on my bed and watch the door, wringing my hands. Can’t stop thinking about his offer to turn me into an Omega, either. All it takes is an injection—he could do it and I might never know. It would ruin my life, and he seems like a typical Alpha bastard.

I wince, rubbing my face with both hands. Ugh. Don’t think that way, Rey. Don’t be like that.

My phone vibrates on my desk. I heave a sigh into my palms before getting up to check. Probably Rose or Finn. I don’t have any other friends on campus.

> **(716) 351 2010**
> 
> * * *
> 
> **Text Message  
>  ****Today** 7:13 PM
> 
> Deliver the message?

Oh Jesus. He’s here to break my kneecaps.

Panicked, I drop my phone on the floor and kick it under my bed. I hurry to the window and peer through my blinds at the lawn below but don’t see anyone suspicious hanging out there. He’s here. I should call the police.

I spin in a hysterical circle for a minute, just short of an actual stroke, when I hear my phone vibrate loudly on the cement floor. Fine—okay. I need to get it so I can call the police. He totally threatened me. He stalked me. He’s a lunatic.

I drop to my knees and swipe up my phone to find another message from the unknown number that is almost certainly Kylo.

> I see you looking through your blinds.  
>  Don’t make me come up there.
> 
> Yes I told them and they don’t care. Take it up with Poe. Bye; calling the cops.
> 
> Go ahead. Jenkins is on campus patrol. 7162130977, in case you didn’t know.

Fuck. I _didn’t_ know. But I’ll just call 911–I’ll call the real cops and they’ll haul Kylo away.

…That won’t look very good for the whole ‘Alpha rights’ campaign, though. It will look downright bad. Am I being reactive? Discriminatory?

My phone rings while I’m debating what I should do. I glare at the unknown number, throat tight with anxiety. I should just ignore him. He won’t do anything. People know where I am.

I answer.

“Hel—”

“They’re out at Pancho’s. Gonna pay them a visit.”

His voice is strange but my blood runs cold at the not-so-subtle threat. Oh.

“They can’t tell him what to do,” I insist. “Poe isn’t going to listen to two Betas.”

“Doesn’t mean they have to give him a platform. I’ll just have a quick chat with ‘em.” He coughs. “Wanna wear your Alpha Rights T-shirt?”

“Excuse me?”

“Well you’re coming with me.”

I scowl. “ _No_.”

Kylo heaves a sigh and coughs again. I hear the vague sound of a car door opening.

“You’re making me come up and get you, huh?” The door slams. “Lot of _effort_ , for me, Niima.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

He whistles high like he’s calling someone and I wince, holding the phone away from my ear as he shouts a name. Kylo hangs up before I can repeat how much I don’t want him coming up to my dorm.

I rush to check my lock. It’s locked, like it has been since I got back, but I’m paranoid he’ll still figure out a way to get in. All the rooms have a key. Maybe he got a hold of a copy of mine.

It’s a mystery that doesn’t take long. I’m hanging near my window when I hear feet outside my door, then the crunch of a key in the lock.

I’m fucking terrified when he opens it: all kinds of horror stories flash through my head; all those awful articles about Alphas sexually assaulting Beta women and killing them because there aren’t any Omegas around. I grab my pen off my desk as he door swings open, revealing Kylo leaning on the doorframe in the middle of a yawn.

His dark eyes are lidded and glassy and it takes another second for me to realize he’s drunk. Maybe high. I definitely smell alcohol. He’s wearing a black sleeveless shirt even though it’s like ten degrees outside and those thin tapered track pants. With a gold chain. He looks stupid.

Kylo nods, gesturing toward my room. I can’t get over how _big_ he is. Gigantic.

“Gonna put on a coat?” he asks. I point my pen at him and he barks a laugh. “Go ahead and try it. I dare you.”

“I’ll call the police,” I hiss. I wave my weapon and his eyes lazily track it. “How did you get a copy of my key? What’s your problem?!”

“I told you I know people. I know everyone around here—half of them have bought Delta from me.”

Delta—I think that’s the drug that turns people into Omegas. I clench my jaw and snatch up another pen and that makes Kylo burst out laughing. I don’t think it’s funny. I don’t know what he wants from me. I don’t know why he’s stalking me.

He ambles a step into my dorm room. He’s so tall that he cuts off the fluorescent lights from the hallway, and I shrink a little. Blood pounds in my ears. Please don’t hurt me. Someone help.

Kylo doesn’t take another step. He studies me for a minute, then glances over his shoulder to check the hall. My hand is shaking when he leans on the door to close it behind him, because now I’m trapped, and I don’t give a shit about any of his rights or how good of a person he might be.

“You don’t like Alphas,” he says. It’s a statement, not a question.

“I don’t like _one_ Alpha who is stalking me,” I retort.

“Stalking implies that I give a shit about you. I know what you think of Alphas—I remember that look from Seven Eleven.” He raises his eyebrows. “I’m not here to change your mind. I need help with keeping Poe Dameron from holding a rally here.”

“Why would I help you? And—and I don’t have a problem with Alphas—just the one that’s been stalking and threatening me over a look at a fucking gas station.”

Kylo rolls his eyes. He turns his neck and I see a big Alpha symbol brand on the left side, black and twisted, and it makes my stomach flip. I shouldn’t have gotten mixed up in this. I don’t care about any of it, and now I’m positive Alphas are just awful people that should be avoided at all costs.

But I’ve been having fun with the protesting and stuff. I’ve liked the sense of belonging. I don’t think it’s selfish to find a place to belong.

“I don’t like that fake woke shit.” Kylo rubs the bridge of his nose, sighing, and it lapses into a deep growl that makes my hair stand on end. “Really… _really_ pisses me off.”

“We’re trying to help you. You’re kind of ungrateful.”

The rubbing stops. Kylo opens his eyes, glaring at me, and I glare back at him through the darkness. What? He _is_ ungrateful.

“Ungrateful?” he echoes. I nod, and his lower eyelid twitches. “Ungrateful, huh?”

There are a couple other adjectives I would use: unpleasant, uncouth, unbearable, et cetera, but I think ungrateful captures him the best. He’s just a bully. He’s used to pushing people around to make them do whatever he wants, and he’s doing the same thing to me.

Kylo keeps nodding. His hand slides down slowly to cover his mouth, and he taps his cheek with his index finger. I’m waiting for the inevitable attack. Typical of an Alpha, from what I’ve read. Just proving me right—proving everyone right.

He raises his eyebrows, hand slipping down his broad chest. “Well, Rey. Thank you for letting me know.” He shakes his head and exhales, long and dramatic. “The last thing I want to do is be ungrateful.”

“…Look, all I’m saying is we’re trying—”

“No, no. No.” Kylo keeps shaking his head. He holds out his index finger and waves me off. “You’re right. I need to be show my gratitude more often to the gaggle of entitled college kids toting around glitter signs every other weekend.”

He steps forward.

Instinctively, I step back, bumping into the edge of my windowsill, pulse racing. Kylo grasps the edge of my desk and bed as he meanders another step closer, now just a handful of feet away. I can see the scars down his thick arms and his information neatly engraved on his bracelet, but I barely look, because I’m staring at him, brandishing my pens.

He smiles, searching my face. I don’t breathe.

“What?” he coos. He pouts his lower lip. “Can’t I give you a gratitude hug?”

I don’t respond. I stare and hope he leaves and think it’s totally fair for me to assume the worst of him.

Kylo studies me for another minute before he turns away, rolling his eyes. He goes to my door but I don’t relax until he’s halfway out.

“I’ll be in touch,” he says. He looks at me over his shoulder, one hand on the door. “ _Oh_ —by the way—if you let Finn or Rose know that I’m coming—I’ll, uh…” He snaps his fingers, furrowing his brow. “Your calc professor—buys Delta from me once a week. I’ll tell him to fail you.”

My shock must show even though I don’t want it to. He gets a smug smile and winks at me as he slips out into the hallway.

“I’ll just lock this behind me,” he calls.

He does. I don’t move the entire time, and I still don’t move when his footsteps move away.


End file.
